Noise Reduction... I need a Lesson

[A1A2]

I believe I own enough ok gear to make my mix sounding decent, and think it's time to work on tracking method and noise reduction.

I have SoundForge, Sonar, and ACID, I think only SoundForge has noise reduction plug-in. So, can someone please teach me how to properly use/apply noise reduction??

Right now the biggest noise source is my PC, then the small movements I make while playing guitar...

Thank you

AL

 

[James Argo]

Yo AL...
Let me share what I got here... first thing you need to do noise reduction is to KNOWING your noises propherly. Noises can be crackle, hiss, hum, buzz, pop, etc... etc... each has it's own shape and cause. For instance, "hiss" is noises you hear sounds like it's called... "Hiiissss..." You can bet it occur within high freq range, while "hum" is noises in the low freq. How loud the noises compared to your average audio captured is caled SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio).

Right now the biggest noise source is my PC, then the small movements I make while playing guitar...

Not really sure about your kind of noise, but most PC noises caused by electrical hum (bad grounding) or CPU fans. Was it 60Hz cycle ?
The best way to get rid of those noises of your movement is practise to play without moving. I mean avoid unneccesary move, or keep your position steady...
People often use spectrum analyzer to "see" noises. There you can reduct them in the right places... I'm sure many will answer more. Good luck capturing 'em...


James

 

[A1A2]

hey, James

thanks, man. So, are you suggesting cutting off the noise via EQing? Wouldn't I loose some highs that I wanted to keep? I remember reading somewhere that Sonic Foundry's noise reduction tool actually allows you to "analyze" the noise shape first, then set the noise gate recordingly, but I haven't found out how to use that in Sound Forge yet.

About movement, it's mostly my cloths that's making the noise when picking guitar, maybe I should buy a wife-beater just to reduce this, lol

AL

 

[crosstudio]

that's why i always record naked.

seriously, its better to take care of noise issues by never recording them than to try to fix them in the mix.

can you remove your PC from the room? I have my PC in an adjacent closet with a small hole drilled to pass the wires. I got extensions for my keyboard, mouse, and monitor.

i've picked up a nasty habit of banging my pinky finger against the guitar while i'm playing acoustic.

 

[Flames]

If your PC is to noisy I think this will cure your problem.
Although it's in swedish I think that by looking at the pictures would give you some insight in what I'm suggesting.


www.musikcentralen.se/reportage/fatystpa1contentframe.html

www.musikcentralen.se/reportage/fatystpa2contentframe.html

Some helping info would be that the main cupboard is bought at IKEA (Swedish and international furniture supermarket) and that the name of the cupboard is "Faktum", but any other like it would offcourse be suitable.
Why not use a translation program on the text if nessesary, it's all to much for me to translate.

 

[James Argo]

So, are you suggesting cutting off the noise via EQing? Wouldn't I loose some highs that I wanted to keep? I remember reading somewhere that Sonic Foundry's noise reduction tool actually allows you to "analyze" the noise shape first, then set the noise gate recordingly, but I haven't found out how to use that in Sound Forge yet.

About movement, it's mostly my cloths that's making the noise when picking guitar, maybe I should buy a wife-beater just to reduce this, lol

...No, I didn't mean use the EQ. It could, but it would be the last thing I would do to reduct the noise. I mean using the spectrum analyzer will help you analyze where the noises at the most, thus can get a better picture of the shape. crosstudio got the point clear, its better to take care of noise issues by never recording them than to try to fix them in the mix. Also the "naked" session BTW, Although I got SF6 in my DAW, I found Cool Edit Pro 2 got the BEST tools to reduct noises... I always use it to reduce noises (if I found...). Guess I dunno much in SF...


James

 

[Deen]

Yo James,

I'm also using Cool Edit's Noise killer. But when I use too
much noise reduction to kill Guitar distortion humm, the
whole signal gets sort of a Phazing effect. Sounds ugly and
unnnatural. How do I get enough noise redux without
the phasing effect? What I do is sample the noise (humm),
then close the transform. Deselect the noise on the waveform
display, open the Noise Redux again, tweak the redux level
until the noise is almost gone, but then the Phasing occurs and spoils the sound. I hate it. ??????????